| CODE
ELEMENT |
EXAMPLE |
DECODE |
NOTES |
|
1 Identification*
|
|
METAR
|
METAR |
METAR
|
METAR —
aviation routine report, |
|
Location indicator
|
EGLL
|
London Heathrow
|
Station four-letter indicator
|
|
Date/Time
|
291020Z |
'ten twenty Zulu on the 29th'
|
Usually
omitted when METARS are presented in bulletin. |
|
2 Wind
|
Wind direction/speed
|
31015G27KT
|
'three one zero degrees, fifteen knots, max twenty seven knots'
|
Max only given if >= 10KT greater than the mean. VRB = variable.
00000KT = calm. |
|
Extreme direction variance
|
280V350 |
'varying between two eight zero and three five zero degrees'
|
Variation given in clockwise direction, but only when mean speed is
greater than 3 KT. |
|
3 Visibility
|
|
Minimum visibility
|
1400SW |
'one thousand four hundred metres to south-west'
|
0000 = 'less than 50 metres' 9999 = 'ten kilometres or more'.
Direction (given by eight-point compass) is appended to the minimum
visibility when minimum visibility is <= 5000m and maximum is at
least 50% greater than this. . |
|
Maximum visibility
|
6000N |
'six thousand metres to the north'
|
Given where minimum visibility < 1500 m and maximum > 5000 m. |
|
4 RVR
|
|
|
R27R/1100 |
'RVR, runway two seven right, one thousand one hunded metres'
|
RVR tendency (U = increasing; D = decreasing; N = no change; not
reported in UK at present) may be added after figure e.g.
R27R/1100D P1500 = more than 1500 m; M0050 = less than 50 m.
Significant variations — example : R24/0950V1100, i.e. varying
between two values. |
|
5 Present weather
|
|
|
+SHRA |
'heavy rain showers'
|
+ = Heavy (well developed in the case of +FC and +PO); - = Light; no
qualifier = Moderate.
| BC=Patches |
BL=Blowing |
BR=Mist |
DR=Drifting |
| DS=Duststorm |
DU=Dust |
DZ=Drizzle |
FC=Funnel cloud |
| FG=Fog |
FU=Smoke |
FZ=Freezing |
GR=Hail (>5mm) |
| GS=Small hail or snow pellets |
HZ=Haze |
IC=Ice crystals |
MI=Shallow |
| PL=Ice pellets |
PO=Dust devils |
PR=Banks |
RA=Rain |
| SA=Sand |
SH=Showers |
SG=Snow grains |
SN=Snow |
| SQ=Squalls |
SS=Sandstorm |
TS=Thunderstorm |
VA=Volcanic ash |
| VC=In vicinity |
|
|
|
| Up to three groups may be present,
constructed by selecting and combining from the above. Group
omitted if no weather to report. |
|
|
6 Cloud
|
|
|
FEW005 BKN025 SCT010CB |
'few at five hundred feet, scattered cumulonimbus at one thousand
feet, broken at two thousand five hundred feet'
|
SKC=Sky clear (0 oktas), FEW='few' (1-2 oktas), SCT='Scattered' (3-4
oktas), BKN='Broken' (5-7 oktas), OVC='Overcast'. There are only two
cloud types reported; TCU=towering cumulus and CB=cumulonimbus.
W///='state of sky obscured' (cloud base not discernable): Figures
in lieu of '///' give vertical visibility in hundreds of feet. Up to
three, but occasionally more, cloud groups may be reported. |
|
7 CAVOK#
|
|
|
CAVOK |
'cav-oh-kay'
|
Visibility greater or equal to 10 km, no cumulonimbus, no cloud
below 5000 ft or highest MSA (greater) and no weather significant to
aviation. |
|
8 Temp and dew point
|
|
|
10/03 |
'temperature ten degrees Celcius, dew point three degrees Celcius'
|
If dew point is missing, example would be reported as 10///. |
|
9 QNH*
|
|
|
Q0995 |
'nine nine five'
|
Q indicates millibars. If the letter A is used QNH is in inches and
hundredths. |
|
10 Recent weather
|
|
|
RETS |
'recent thunderstorm'
|
RE = Recent, weather codes given above. Up to three groups may be
present. |
|
11 Wind shear
|
|
|
WS RWY24 |
'wind shear runway two four'
|
Will not be reported at present for UK aerodromes. |
|
12 Trend
|
|
|
BECMG FM1100 23035G50KT TEMPO FM0630 TL 0830 3000 SHRA |
'becoming from 1100, 230 degrees 35 KT , max 50 KT, temporarily
from 0630 until 0830, 3000 metres, Moderate rain shower's
|
| BECMG=Becoming |
TEMPO=Temporarily |
NOSIG=No sig change |
| NSW=No sig weather |
AT=At |
FM=From |
| TL=Until |
NSC=No sig cloud |
|
| Any of the wind forecast, visibility, weather
or cloud groups may be used, and CAVOK. Multiple groups may be
present. |
|
|
*Indicates a mandatory code element #CAVOK will replace visibility
and cloud groups
Example
SAUK02 EGGY 301220 METAR
EGLY 24015KT 200V280 8000 —RA FEW010 BKN025 OVC080 18/15
Q0983 TEMPO 3000 RA BKN008 OVC020=
An example of the above METAR for 1220 UTC on the 30th of the month,
in plain language:
EGLY: Surface wind: mean 240 deg true, 15 kn; varying between 200 and 280
deg; minimum vis 8 km; light rain; cloud; 1-2 oktas base 1000 ft , 5-7 oktas
2500 ft, 8 oktas 8000 ft; temperature +18 °C, dew point +15°C; QNH 983 mb;
Trend: temporarily 3000 m in moderate rain with 5-7 oktas 800 ft, 8 oktas
2000 ft.
Example
SAUK02 EGGY 301220 METAR
EGPZ 30025G37KT 270V360 1200NE 6000S +SHSN SCT005 BKN010CB
03/M01 Q0999 RETS BECMG AT1300 NSW SCT015 BKN100=
An example of the above METAR for 1220 UTC on the 30th of the month,
in plain language:
EGPZ: Surface wind: mean 300 deg true, 25 kn; maximum 37 kn, varying between
270 and 360 deg; minimum vis 1200 m (to north-east), maximum vis 6 km (to
south); heavy shower of snow, Cloud; 3-4 oktas base 500 ft , 5-7 oktas CB
base 1000 ft, temperature +3°C, dew point -1°C; QNH 999 mb; Thunderstorm
since the previous report; Trend: improving at 1300 Zulu to 10 km or more,
nil weather, 3-4 oktas 1500 ft, 5-7 oktas 10,000 ft.
|
